“Dia Dikader”: Women’s NGOs roles, networks, and the agency of women’s legislative candidates in West Sumatra

ABSTRACT

Previous research, on the representation of women in the Indonesian parliament in the 2019 General Election, identifies two common strategies used by women legislative candidates to win. One is to draw on women's networks to mobilize support and the other is to rely on the dynastic power. This paper contributes to existing studies by exploring the vital role of women NGOs in supplying and preparing women's legislative candidates through a case study of the West Sumatra Provincial Parliament in the 2019 General Election. Qualitative research methods were used for this research, drawing on in-depth interviews with women legislative candidates of West Sumatra Provincial Parliament and women activists. This paper reveals that the rise of women candidates in West Sumatra was “prepared” (dikader) by women's NGOs, namely Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia of West Sumatra and Wanita Islam of West Sumatra. These women NGOs have played an important role in getting women elected by providing political training, consultation, moral support, and access to women's networks. Women NGOs' support for these women candidates arose from their long-term socio-political relationship. This research has also revealed that the women candidates exercised a great deal of agency in reaching the voters through these women's NGOs and networks.

ABSTRACT IN BAHASA INDONESIA

Penelitian sebelumnya mengenai keterwakilan perempuan di parlemen Indonesia pada Pemilu 2019 mengidentifikasi dua strategi yang umum digunakan calon legislatif perempuan untuk meraih kemenangan. Strategi ini mencakup pertama, dengan memanfaatkan jaringan perempuan untuk memobilisasi dukungan, dan kedua, mengandalkan dinasti politik terpusat pada kekuasaan laki-laki. Tulisan ini ingin memberikan kontribusi baru terhadap kajian yang sudah ada dengan menunjukkan pentingnya peran Ornop (Organisasi Non-Pemerintah) perempuan dalam menyuplai dan mempersiapkan calon legislatif perempuan, melalui kasus pemilihan anggota DPRD Provinsi Sumatera Barat pada Pemilu tahun 2019. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kualitatif yang bersumber dari wawancara mendalam terhadap calon legislatif perempuan di DPRD Provinsi Sumatra Barat serta aktivis perempuan dan observasi terhadap mereka. Tulisan ini mengungkapkan bahwa kemunculan caleg perempuan di Sumatera Barat telah dipersiapkan (“dikader”) oleh Ornop perempuan seperti Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia Sumatra Barat dan Wanita Islam Sumatra Barat. Ornop perempuan ini mempunyai peran penting dalam mendukung terpilihnya kandidat perempuan dengan memberikan pelatihan politik, konsultasi, dukungan moral, dan akses terhadap jaringan perempuan. Kepercayaan Ornop perempuan terhadap para kandidat perempuan ini berasal dari interaksi sosio-politik jangka panjang di antara mereka. Hal ini juga menunjukkan bahwa kandidat perempuan memainkan peran aktif karena mereka mampu memanfaatkan dukungan Ornop perempuan dan menggunakan jaringan perempuan untuk menjangkau pemilih.

KEYWORDS:

• Women’s representation
• women’s legislative candidates
• women’s NGOs
• women’s networks
• agency
• West Sumatra

KEYWORDS:

• Keterwakilan perempuan
• caleg perempuan
• Ornop perempuan
• jaringan perempuan
• peran aktif
• Sumatra Barat

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the women legislative candidates and all resource persons especially Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia in Jakarta and West Sumatra, as well as Wanita Islam of West Sumatra who has kindly shared their time and experiences in this research. Our deepest thanks go also to the two anonymous referees of AJWS for their critical and valuable comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Both of them are (pseudonyms): (a) Desi who was born in Padang in 1966, is elected member of the West Sumatra Provincial parliament, from Golkar Party for 3 periods (2009–2014), (2014–2019), and (2019–2024), interviewed on April 30, 2021, and (b) Rita, elected member of the West Sumatra Provincial Parliament (2019–2024), from PDIP, born in 1958, interviewed on May 7, 2021.

2 They are (pseudonyms): (a) Winda, lecturer at the University of Andalas, interviewed on April 16, 2021, (b) Bundo Putri, chief of Bundo Kandung, West Sumatra, interviewed on April 16, 2021, (c) Mela, board of Wanita Islam of West Sumatra, interviewed on May 7, 2021, and (d) Yasmin, board of Wanita Islam, West Sumatra, interviewed on May 7, 2021.

3 They are (pseudonyms): (a) Tuti, head of KPI of West Sumatra, interviewed on June 15, 2022, (b) Sari, Director of West Sumatra, LP2M, interviewed on June 15, 2022, (c) Heni, secretary of Badan Kerjasama Organsiasi Wanita (BKOW, women's organization cooperation body) of West Sumatra, interviewed on June 14, 2022, (d) Mutia women ulama interviewed on June 12, 2022, (e) Yuni, leader of General Election Commission of West Sumatra, interviewed on June 17, 2022, (f) Yanto, member of General Election Commission of West Sumatra, interviewed on June 17, 2022, (g) Ayun, staff of General Election Commission of West Sumatra, interviewed on June 17, 2022, (h) Mona, director of NURANI PEREMPUAN of West Sumatra, interviewed on June 12, 2022, (i) Gabe, male local NGO activist in West Sumatra, interviewed on June 13, 2022, (j) Yanti, lecturer at IAIN Bukittinggi, interviewed on June 13, 2022, (k) Darman, local journalist of West Sumatra, interviewed on June 17, 2022, (l) Sinta, women NGO activist of West Sumatra, interviewed on June 13, 2022, (m) Yasmin, board of Wanita Islam of West Sumatra, interviewed on June 14, 2022, (n) Winda, lecturer at University of Andalas in West Sumatra, interviewed on June 14, 2022, and (o) Ida, head of KPI central board, interviewed in Jakarta on July 4, 2022.

Additional information

Funding

This research was sponsored by PRN/LPDP (Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan) of Indonesia 2020, and RUMAH PROGRAM KEINDONESIAAN Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities (OR IPSH)—National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) 2022.

Notes on contributors

Kurniawati Hastuti Dewi

Kurniawati Hastuti DEWI is a senior researcher at Research Center for Politics, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) with interests on gender and politics. She has conducted extensive research on female leaders in Indonesia’s local politics (2008–2019). One of her key publications is Indonesian Women and Local Politics: Islam, Gender, and Networks in Post-Suharto Indonesia (Singapore: NUS Press & Kyoto University Press, 2015). Currently, she leads a research project examining capacity, strategy, and role of Indonesian women’s NGOs in post-reform Indonesia. Email: [email protected]

Ade Latifa

Ade LATIFA is senior researcher at Research Center for Population, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). Her research interests are in the areas of migration, gender, and climate change. She has been involved in several research projects such as on gender and politics, family resilience of Indonesian migrant workers, and urban farming. Email: [email protected]

Nur Iman Subono

Nur Iman SUBONO is a senior lecturer at Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia (UI). His research interests are in the area of women and politics, feminism, civil society, and study of Latin America. He has been involved in various comparative, cross-disciplinary research on gender and politics, human trafficking, military, and politics in Indonesia and Brazil. Email: [email protected]

Wahyu Prasetyawan

Wahyu PRASETYAWAN is a senior lecturer at Faculty of Communication Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta. His research interests are in the area of political economy, and networks. He conducts research in political economy, the mining industry, economic growth, democracy, and environmental economics in Indonesia. His book Networked: Business and Politics in Decentralizing Indonesia 1998–2004 was published by NUS and Kyoto University Press in 2018 and received the Ohira Masayoshi Award in Social Sciences in 2020. Email: [email protected]

Ari Purwanto Sarwo Prasojo

Ari Purwanto Sarwo PRASOJO is a researcher at Research Center for Population, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). Demography, Statistics, Social Data Science, Population Studies related to health and the environment are his research interests. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics in 2016 from Brawijaya University, Malang. He obtained his master’s degree in Population and Labor Economics (M.E.K.K.) in 2022 from the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia. Email: [email protected]